Amelie

I think the setting is quite important in this movie’s overall effect. To begin with, the environment in which Amelie lived, at home without interaction with other children in a fairly well-to-do family as her father was a doctor, and the fact that her father was shown to be not very tenderhearted actually made her the way she was: introverted, shy, living in a fantasy world, learning how to play games by herself, and not having any friends. She actually grew up in a grown up world if you will.

The tiny streets of Paris with shop vendors selling their wares outside, the little café with the smoke shop inside, the tiny apartments with views from little terraces and views into each others apartments allows the director to develop all the interactions of the characters who live there which is quite important to the setting as well. Amelie and the audience as well, were transplanted into a community within a city and all the characters whose lives came together in that little community.

I think the scenes are shot in the café and the surrounding little community of the café, the marketplace and the apartments to make the audience feel as it they live there too. It provides a sense that Amelie is going to survive the sheltered life she had at home by finally interacting with other people and living independently in the little world around her apartment and the café and the café provides her the opportunity to meet many different types of people as well. Placing her at the carnival and in the photo booth purvey the soul of her character; whimsical, fun, playful and intriguing.

The director costumes the individuals according to their character. For instance, Amelie is dressed in simple, tasteful, innocent style dresses and basic shoes, the artist in a beret and eccentric artist type clothing, the dance girls in the video shop in low cut, wild print dresses and high heeled shoes. What he has done is dressed them according to their role so that the viewer can tell who they are and what they do without even being introduced to them.

I think the lighting was mixed; during the outside scenes and in the carnival it was harsh and direct but inside the apartment and inside the artist’s apartment the lighting was more subtle and soft giving you the sense of being in a small not well-lit homey apartment. At other times like in the café where external light was shining in it didn’t seem to be either harsh or soft. So I think he used a mix of lighting depending on the time of day and place of the scene. The director therefore puts you in the mood of a certain place whether it’s in the apartments, the café, her parent’s home and other places by using all three lighting styles, direct or harsh, medium and balanced and soft and diffused such as the scene in her bedroom where she was dreaming about what was playing on the television.

I thought the film was quite strange at first, but after about 20 min. to a half hour I was finally getting the feel for it and where the director was going with it after all the short, choppy first scenes. It was rather hard to take in the scenes and the action because I was busy reading the captions at times. So although it was a little difficult to watch and I think I missed some of the details due to having to read the captions it was still enjoyable and not totally beyond comprehension or enjoyment. The use of French actually lent an air of realism to it and placed you in Paris, so that it made a believable storyline. Since the French language sounds so aesthetically pleasing I don’t think you’d have gotten the same feel for the characters and setting if it had been done in English. The narrator did a good job of putting you at ease as if you were listening to a story with his inflections of tone and smooth speaking style.

I was actually thinking when we were done with the movie that I need to watch it a second time in order to see all the details instead of having to read what was happening, although some scenes weren’t as difficult to follow when there was more action and less narration. I found it interesting as well that the notes they wrote were in English while most or all of the speaking was in French. It was helpful though, since you were reading two things and watching as well.